Pride's Illusion
by Chanberry
Summary: Bluebird's Illusion Pride!Ed fic. Edward is turned into the homunculus Pride, but gets his memory back after getting killed. But what happens to Pride after Ed is back?
1. Chapter 1

"_Brother! Brother!" Alphonse shouted, running up to Edward with a smile on his chubby face. It was his 7th birthday, and he'd gotten a lot of gifts and a gigantic birthday cake with sweet frosting and colorful fruit._

"_Yeah, Al?" Ed turned toward his younger brother, grinning while rustling his sandy blonde hair._

"_You know, what I wished for? On my birthday candles? I wished that you, Mom and I would live together forever!" Al told Ed, hopping up and down in excitement. _

"_Al! You idiot, you're not supposed to tell anyone what you wished for! Now your wish won't come true!" Ed scolded Al, crossing his arms. Al stared at him in shock, wide-eyed. Then his wide hazel eyes narrowed as tears began to fall and Al started to cry._

_Later, Trisha Elric had ushered the boys into the house, carrying Al and rocking him gently so that when she'd arrived at the boy's room, he was already fast asleep._

_Little did the Elric brothers know, Al's wish really would never come true..._

_----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Ed looked down at the floor of the underground laboratory. He was badly injured and beaten up everywhere, but he didn't notice the pain. Everything around him had blurred, except for the two images of people he knew taking their last breaths. How had this happened? How did everything he'd just gained get taken away so quickly? Where was the Equivalent Exchange?

"Ed...ward... B-brother... It's.. okay... Go.. Escape!" Alphonse wheezed, the gaping hole in his chest leaking blood. Envy had pierced his chest straight through his heart; there was no longer any hope for him.

"Al... No... ALPHONSE!" Ed's golden eyes clouded with tears, desperately shaking Al's weak form, praying to the gods he never believed in that Al would somehow survive this. Somehow make it out alive...

With one last breath that did not take any air, Al closed his eyes and his already fragile form seemed to crumple like a piece of burning paper before Ed's eyes.

"Al! No!" Ed shrieked, looking away from the corpse of his younger brother, only to spot another dead body behind him.

"Roy... no. NO!" Ed's golden eyes were crazed, widening, then scrunching together, trying to make the death beyond them invisible. But the two bodies of the ones he'd most admired; cared most about; did not disappear.

"Heh.. Now there's nobody left to pester us, huh, chibi-san?" A sarcastic voice taunted. Ed turned again, seeing Envy in front of him. Envy smirked as he raised one of his blood-soaked arms and licked off some of the red liquid. Ed felt his stomach churn, and he just wanted to end it... End the pain; block out the horrifying images of blood blooming from the chests of corpses, of that sick homunculus licking his hands clean of blood that used to be in living, human bodies...

Crying out in anguish, Ed scratched at his throat in a moment of insanity, automail puncturing the skin on his neck, and blood, this time his own, came pouring out. And as he looked one last time into the empty eyes of his brother, Edward Elric sighed heavily and fell to the ground, at Envy's feet.

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"Father... He's dead. He killed himself, actually..." Envy reported, and 'Father' raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"How unexpected. This makes my plans a bit more complicated; I was going to have that boy make the Stone, but..." he stopped in mid-sentence, an idea popping into his mind.

"Bring the boy here." He ordered Envy.

"What! But, I just told you, he's dead--"

"Did you not understand my orders? Bring his body!"

"Y-yes, Father..."

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Ok, so I downloaded the game Bluebird's Illusion, and I had at for about 4 months, then my laptop died and all my files were deleted, so I can't play it anymore... No more smexy pics of Ed... darn. Anyway, I've recently been obsessed with Pride!Ed, so I wanted to write my own version of how it happened. I think I'll add more chapters later. Yes, I know, that's what they always say, but oh well. Please leave a review if you enjoyed reading this!


	2. Chapter 2

_Last chapter:_

"_Bring the boy here." He ordered Envy._

"_What! But, I just told you, he's dead--"_

"_Did you not understand my orders? Bring his body!"_

"_Y-yes, Father..."_

"Everybody... Welcome your new brother, Pride." 'Father' said, and a boy with blond hair and elaborate tattoos all over his body stepped forward.

"Pride..." he said, as an introduction. Envy stared in bewilderment. He looked exactly like Edward, but his eyes were dull; without the same spark of flame that used to inhabit them. His hair was down, and he did not have the trademark black outfit and red coat Ed always wore. It just didn't look right. But then again, this wasn't Edward. It was Pride, the new homunculus...

* * *

"Havoc! Have they found Alphonse and the Colonel yet?" Riza Hawkeye asked, a tired, weary look on her face. After Roy and Al had broken into the Fuhrer's office to try to rescue Ed from whichever villain had captured him, they didn't come back for many hours, so Riza had organized some of Roy's staff to help find them.

"No luck yet, Hawkeye..." Havoc replied, taking a breath of his cigarette to relieve some of the stress from searching all day. "We've been searching for ages; where the hell are they? What's happened?"

"I don't know, Havoc... I really hope that... I hope they're okay..." Riza chewed on her lip, trying to maintain her cool, calm composure, but Havoc could tell that she was at least sobbing in the inside. Her heart wasn't going to be able to take anymore bad news.

"Well, I'm sure they'll turn up!! I mean, this is the Colonel we're talking about; he wouldn't leave that easily... right?" Havoc said in an attempt to comfort Riza. She smiled sadly at the effort, but didn't seem to be cheered up at all.

"I suppose so... You've been working for a long time, Havoc. Why don't you take a break?"

Before Havoc could answer, a soldier ran up to them, panting.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye!! We... We found them!!" the soldier reported after saluting.

"Wh-what?! Really?!" Havoc cried, eyes lighting up.

"Yes!! But... Well, the Colonel is alright, although he's very badly injured; he has a really deep gash in his side as though someone stabbed him, but the two boys... We couldn't find Major Elric, but his brother... I'm afraid he didn't make it; had a hole straight through where his heart was..."

Riza had been standing stiff, as though frozen, since the soldier had come, but when he finished reporting, she let her shoulders sag as she finally began to cry. She was happy... so happy that Roy was alive, yet devastated that Alphonse was gone... And Edward... Ed was still missing; he could be dead as well, but that would've made all their efforts in vain.

"Where... Where is Roy?" Riza asked, wanting to see with her own eyes how badly he was hurt.

"He's being rushed to the hospital as we speak."

* * *

"Hi, Pride!!" Gluttony stumbled over to Pride and stuck a finger in his mouth in wonder. "You look a lot like the Fullmetal boy!"

"Full...metal? What... is.. that?" Pride asked, eyes blank and face expressionless.

"Gluttony!! You fat idiot, Father told you not to say anything to Pride that might make him remember who he was!!" Envy scolded Gluttony, whacking him on the head.

Pride stared at the two homunculi squabbling, and seemed to just zone out for a while. Then his dull gold eyes widened a bit.

"I... am.. your brother? ... Am I... older..?" Pride asked, his sentences were slightly detached. Envy paused in the middle of trying to see what would happen if he punched Gluttony in the stomach (A/N: I mean, seriously, would his fist sink? Or would it bounce off harmlessly?)

"Uh... You're younger. You're the youngest now, out of all of us." Envy said, careful not to reveal anything about the fact that Ed indeed used to be an older brother to Alphonse.

"Really...? But... I ... felt like I ... was.. older... Like an... older... brother..." Pride seemed a bit confused.

"Nope!! No, you're younger!! No doubt about it!!" Envy insisted, hoping that Pride wouldn't remember anything.

Suddenly, Lust burst into the room, long lance-like fingers extended and covered with blood.

"They've found the Flame Alchemist!! Apparently, he was still alive, but after Envy stabbed him, I moved him outside of the laboratory, so I doubt that they'll find us." Lust said, walking towards 'Father'. "I killed a few soldiers just for good measure, however..."

"Welcome back, Lust!!" Gluttony raised his hands in a 'yay!!' position and waddled over to her. Lust retracted her lance-like fingers and patted Gluttony's bald head.

* * *

"Colonel, hang in there! You'll be okay... Everything will be alright..."

"Hawkeye... Alphonse, he..."

"Shh... I know, Roy... I know..." Riza shushed Roy as he lay in pain on his hospital bed, fighting to stay awake. Riza had rushed to the hospital immediately, and had collapsed at Roy's bedside in tears.

"And we couldn't... we didn't bring Ed back... actually... Riza, something horrible has happened..." Roy muttered, staring down at the sheets covering him. Riza nodded, to indicate she was listening. "Well, once that homunculus, Envy, I believe, stabbed me, they probably thought I was dead, since I was unconscious, and lost a lot of blood, too, and even I am amazed that I survived. Anyway, Edward... When he saw that Alphonse was... dead, and he thought that I had died too, I think something in him just snapped and he committed suicide... He actually tore out his own throat using his automail hand, Riza..."

Riza stared in shock as she digested Roy's words... That meant that Edward had died, and Alphonse had died in vain... And Roy's injuries were for nothing... Weren't the boys always saying something about Equivalent Exchange in alchemy? Then where was the Equivalent Exchange? What did they gain from all these hardships?

"But that's not all, Riza... A man, probably the leader of the homunculi, since they all called him 'Father", took Ed's body, and turned him into a homunculus!!" Roy said the last few words with much emphasis, but it hurt because of the wound in his side, so he slumped further into his bed. He covered his eyes with his hand and sighed. "So now Ed's a homunculus... And the Fuhrer... Fuhrer Bradley is a homunculus as well."

Riza could only sit silently in shock as she listened to Roy tell her what happened. She had so many things to process, but one thing she was absolutely sure of was that they were not going to have any more peaceful days in the military office...

**Ok, sorry people, but I've got to end the chapter here, since I've run out of ideas... I actually had a wonderful plotline planned out for this story, but when I started writing it, it just didn't seem right. If you have any ideas for this story, I'll gladly welcome them. I want to have Pride encounter Roy and get his memory back, but I don't know how they should do so... help!**


	3. Chapter 3

"Hmm... so, do you really think he can do it?"

"Of course he can. Although he wouldn't have done it while he was human; he's not now, and does not carry any past memories of being human. It should be easy for him to kill." Lust concluded, hands on her hips. The homunculi were discussing what a problem it was that the Flame Alchemist survived. He knew most; if not all of their secret plots; and if he was left alive; there would be no hope for the homunculi.

And so, 'Father' had come to the obvious decision that Roy Mustang must be eliminated. And who better to do so than their new addition; Pride? After all, he needed to get used to killing, and learning what it felt like to gave death stained on his hands.

"Envy...? What do I have to do?" Pride asked, cocking his head in a confused way. He could tell by the way they were examining him as though summing up his strength that he was going to have some kind of mission. Father had just told him to do what Envy told him to...

"Shut up for a sec, Pride." Envy growled. Why was Pride always asking him all the questions? Why didn't he ask Lust, or Father, or heck, even Gluttony? Envy didn't want to hear that voice; or see that face, every time Pride asked him a question. But for some reason, Pride was attached to Envy's side like a leech. "Are you sure about this, Lust? And moreover, why do I have to bring him for his first mission? I'm not a fucking babysitter!!"

"You seem to have the most free time; seeing as you spend your days wandering the streets choosing random people to kill; then impersonating them to see how long the foolish humans will go without realizing one of their friends is gone. You don't have time to waste picking on those idiotic humans; so we're giving you something better to do." Lust explained.

"Yes, something better to do!! Don't waste time, Envy!!" Gluttony echoed Lust's words.

Envy glared at the other two homunculi, promising himself that when all of this shit was done with and they'd made the Philosopher's Stone, he'd rid himself of these idiots.

"Fine, then. I'll take him; but don't be surprised if a few extra people end up dead as well." Envy hissed.

"That would work to our advantage, actually. Thank you, Envy."

"Shut up, you bitch!!"

Pride merely stood at the side as a spectator, not really understanding what they were talking about. He met Envy's eyes, but Envy immediately looked away, angrily kicking the wall. And leaving a rather large dent in it as well.

"Envy, why... are you angry? Did... I do... something wrong?" Pride asked, tugging at one of Envy's gloves. He looked up at him innocently, expecting some kind of answer. Envy turned slowly, giving Pride an evil smirk.

"You know what, Pride? Why don't we go outside and have some fun?"

* * *

"I want you to organize a squad to go into that underground lab. Most likely they've already destroyed the entrance and any soldiers that discovered it on their search for Alphonse and I. Either way, I want some people to check." Roy told Hawkeye, who listened intently, memorizing all his orders. "If, in the situation that you somehow find the laboratory; your first priority is to find Ed-- or the homunculus he was turned into."

"Yes, sir. Anything else?"

"No, that's all I can think of at the moment; I need some rest, my wounds are killing me." Roy groaned as he shifted into a more comfortable position in his bed.

"Very well then, I'll make sure that everyone gets your orders... And... Roy?"

"Yes, Riza?"

"What will we do with Ed, or the homunculus, when we've found him? How will we deal with him?" Riza asked.

"Leave that to me. Thank you for coming here; now go." Roy said, and sighed as Riza nodded and left out the door. He lay still for a moment, beginning to nod off in his hospital bed, when suddenly he heard a 'whoosh' as his door opened again.

"What is it, Riza?" he asked, eyes still closed; he assumed she had come back to ask about one of his orders. He got no response, and he opened his eyes to see the very person he'd just sent so many people out to search for..

* * *

"What... are we doing... here, Envy?" Pride asked as they approached the hospital. This was the very first time he'd been outside; and Envy had said they were going to 'have fun', but so far it wasn't very exciting.

"We're going to play a game, okay? See that window, over there to the right?" Envy pointed to the room that the Flame Colonel was in.

"Yes."

"Good. Now, that man seems really lonely, all alone in his hospital bed, doesn't he? Why don't we go cheer him up? Let's go to his room, and once we open the door, I want you to take this-" Envy pulled out a sharp pocket knife, "and push it through his chest."

"But won't that... hurt him?" Pride asked, taking the knife into his hands. He accidentally pricked himself with it on the palm, and blue sparks automatically sprouted from the wound, closing it. Pride stared at it for a moment, then looked back up at Envy.

"Of course it won't hurt him! When you push that through his chest, he'll be so relieved that he'll slump in his bed and fall asleep peacefully. He'll be so happy that you came; he won't be able to contain his joy, and he'll just fall back and relax since he knows he's not alone."

"Really?"

"Yes. Really." Envy lied, and for once he felt as though dragging Pride around wasn't that much of a bother after all; this was getting very amusing...

Roy stared at the person at his door, believing briefly that it was Edward standing there. Holding a knife. And with Envy standing next to him.

"What the-- ?! Oh, wait. Crap, you're the new homunculus, aren't you?" Roy stared at Pride. "Let me guess... Envy, Lust, Gluttony, Wrath, and Greed were taken already... Would you perhaps be Pride?"

"Yes... Envy said that we came here to cheer you up, so I'll help you fall asleep peacefully now." Pride said with a smile on his face, walking up to Roy's bedside.

"Shit! Actually, it makes sense that they'd want to kill me; I know too much already... But I'm sorry. I'm not going to die that easily right after escaping a brush with death."

"Die? I'm... not.. going to... kill you... I'm helping you... fall asleep... right, Envy?"

"That's right, Pride, now do it quick; I think this man is starting to get confused."

"Envy, you vile... Pride... no, Ed... I know you must be in there somewhere... Don't do this. You can fight it!!" Roy shouted. Pride stopped in his tracks.

"Ed...? Edward... Edward... Elric?" Pride asked, turning the name around in his mind. It was... familiar. Where had he heard it before?

"Don't listen to that batty old man, Pride. Put him to sleep quick before he says more weird things." Envy said, pushing Pride toward Roy.

"... No." Pride whispered.

"What was that?" Envy asked, not hearing what Pride said.

"I said no!! I don't wanna..." Pride pouted, crossing his arms.

"But you have to, Pride. Father wants you to, remember?" Envy nudged Pride.

"I don't care; I don't want to!!" Pride shouted, handing the pocketknife to Envy. "If you want to, you can do it!"

Envy smirked at this and accepted the knife. "That works just fine, I've always wanted to be the one to stain my hands with his blood..." Roy looked at him alarmingly, and every instinct told him to run, but he was wounded so badly he could barely raise a finger; let alone escape. He could always set Envy's skort thing on fire, but he didn't have his gloves at the moment, and was unprepared for battle. He tried to think of any other way to escape... He could yell at the top of his lungs, and someone would come, but chances are they'd get killed as well.

"Shit... Well, this really sucks." Roy swore to himself as Envy advanced toward him.

"Yes it does. For you, that is." Envy laughed as he raised the knife, and Roy closed his eyes and cringed, expecting the excruciating pain to hit him soon. What was death like, anyway? He'd had many close scrapes with it, but always managed to avoid death. Was it painful? And before all that, was he really ready to leave this world without accomplishing his goal of becoming Fuhrer? It was too late now... Roy could practically feel the knife digging into his flesh-- wait. No, he wasn't. He wasn't feeling anything. Was he really dead?

Roy opened his eyes, and saw blood. But it wasn't his.

"E-Edward!!" Roy shouted. Envy had just been about to stab him, but Ed, no, Pride had stepped in front of him and taken the hit instead. Pride coughed up blood, and fell on top of Roy, blood pouring from the wound Envy had made in his chest.

"Crap. That wasn't supposed to happen..." Envy said, as though it wasn't that big of a deal. It looked like he had just accidentally added too much flour to a cake, and he could just start over. Which in a way was true. Alchemic blue sparks flew from Pride's wounds, healing them quickly and he regenerated, and within moments Pride was standing up again as though nothing had happened.

"Ow..." Pride moaned, stretching out a bit to recover his bodies' functions. Roy just stared at him, dumbfounded. It wasn't the first time he'd seen a homunculus regenerate, but this time it was an Ed clone regenerating, so it looked rather... odd, to say the least.

"Th-thank you..." Roy uttered, and Pride turned to him.

"You're welcome... Roy." Pride smiled a little.

**Yay!! Pride has his memories back!! Thanks to QuitexSoul for giving me an idea! I don't think I wrote this one as well as my past chapters, since I'm 'falling asleep at the wheel' as they say, and I'm not putting all that much thought into it... Sorry that this chapter was kind of sucky... Anyway, I'm still open to more ideas, although I have a plotline forming, I can make the story longer with your ideas, so feel free to drop a review and an idea!**


	4. Chapter 4

"_Th-thank you..." Roy uttered, and Pride turned to him._

"_You're welcome... Roy." Pride smiled a little._

Envy stared in shock at Pride. Had he really just gotten his memories back like that? Father would be furious!

"Pride... Uh, we'd better get out of here, come on, Father is waiting!" Envy ushered Pride, grabbing his arm. Pride slapped his hand away, then stared at his own hand.

"Fuck. I'm a homunculus now? That's just wonderful. Hey, but now I can't die... It feels kind of weird. What's with this outfit, though? Why am I the one in the miniskirt now?" Pride rambled to himself. Envy and Roy just sort of stood there, sweat-dropping at how Pride was taking all of this in. He didn't seem too shocked at the fact that he had just gotten stabbed, came back to life, and suddenly had all of his memories back.

"Uh... Ed? Or Pride? Dammit, can you just choose a name so I know what to call you?!" Roy said in frustration. Pride looked at him, and Roy was startled to see that his golden eyes were lit up with the same light Edward had; and Roy knew that without a doubt, Edward was back.

"Just... Edward, I guess..." (A/N: to make this easier for myself; I am now going to refer to Pride!Ed as Edward, since he has his memories back.)

"Ok. Edward, then. Do... you really have your memories back? All of them, that is?" Roy asked.

"I can remember everything before I died--" suddenly Ed fell silent, a look of despair on his face. "Oh, shit... Wait, aren't you supposed to be dead? Along with..." Ed didn't finish his sentence, letting it fade as the atmosphere of the room became a bit darker.

"I survived." Roy answered simply, a hard look on his face.

"Wh-what about... Alphonse?"

"Oi. I'm getting a bit left out of the conversation here." Envy suddenly cut in. He had been standing silent for quite a while, and since the topic had turned to something he enjoyed talking about, he decided to contribute.

"Do you really want to know what happened to your precious little baby brother?" Envy sneered. "Fine, I'll tell you. I killed him. That's for sure. Ripped straight through his heart, I could even feel his heart stop pumping. It was quite a nice feeling, actually, his blood started spilling out so nicely..." Envy smirked, relishing the look on Ed's face.

"You... You... YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!" Ed clapped his hands and was about to transmute his arm when he realized it was no longer made of metal. "... My arm? It's flesh!!"

Roy also realized for the first time that Ed's automail was gone. He had been so caught up in the moment he didn't even notice. So much for the title Fullmetal; not that he'd be able to have it again anyway, since everyone thought he was dead.

"That's right, chibi. Isn't that horrible? That the sweet innocent younger brother gets his body back, only to die, but his rash, obnoxious older brother not only gets immortality, but gets his limbs back, too? How utterly disgusting your very existence is."

Ed stood rooted to his spot, fists clenched. He knew Envy was just messing with him, but he could see the truth in what he was saying...

"... Shut up, Envy." Roy commanded, noticing Ed back down from the fight. "I may be injured, but that doesn't mean I don't have the desire to get my revenge on you. I don't care how much it will hurt, I'll get up and strangle you if I have to."

"Oh, and who do you think would win in a battle between the injured you and me, who won't even die the first time you kill me? As much as I've enjoyed this little conversation; I'd like to wrap this up as soon as possible." Envy hissed, holding up the pocketknife menacingly. Edward stood in front of Roy, acting as a shield.

"You'll have to get past me first. And since I'm not going to die as easily as before, it'll be a bit harder." Ed said as Envy advanced toward him.

"Come on, Pride... I'll bring you back to Father. He'll have all those painful memories erased and you won't have to deal with how unfair Al's death was. You won't even remember the pain of killing yourself. And you won't have to waste any lives protecting this 'bastard Colonel', as you always called him."

"I would like to say that I may be a General soon, thank you!!" Roy yelled. Envy snorted at that.

"You're not going to get another promotion if I kill you first, Flame Alchemist." Envy laughed harshly. "Enough chit-chat, I'm here on a mission to kill you, and I'm going to end this quic-- AAAUUUGH!" Envy cried out as Ed's foot connected with his bare stomach.

"Sorry to interrupt in the middle of a lame catch phrase, but I'd also like to end this, so less talking and more losing on your part." Ed said as he grabbed Envy by his hair and punched him in the face.

"Why you... Fine, you want to do it that way?" Envy swung his leg around and kicked, expecting his foot to hit Ed's jaw. Unfortunately for him, it hit the air hard, and before he could get himself back in a normal standing position, Ed kicked Envy's other foot and tripped him.

Roy watched the fight, rather amused at how easily Envy was getting beat. He chuckled a bit as Ed sent Envy flying into the wall, with a sickening crack as a bone broke. Blue sparks emerged from Envy's skin as he regenerated.

"Fucking... Pipsqueak... Why am I even dealing with this? I'm not here to fight with you, chibi shorty... And you, Flame Alchemist... aren't going to be the one laughing at the end of this fight!!" Envy slowly rose from the floor, leaving bloodstains on the wall behind him, and with sudden energy he dashed toward Roy with the knife ready to stab...

**Aaaand I'm ending the chapter there. Total cliffhanger, I know, but it's time I got off the computer, so deal with it. Sorry; I'll try to update again ASAP. I have a good idea for how this fight is going to end next chapter, so stay tuned! XD**


	5. Chapter 5

"_Fucking... Pipsqueak... Why am I even dealing with this? I'm not here to fight with you, chibi shorty... And you, Flame Alchemist... aren't going to be the one laughing at the end of this fight!!" Envy slowly rose from the floor, leaving bloodstains on the wall behind him, and with sudden energy he dashed toward Roy with the knife ready to stab..._

For a moment, Edward panicked. He couldn't just let another person die!! Not right after he'd just lost Al... He could always jump in front of Roy again to protect him, but he wouldn't make it in time; Envy was already right in front of Roy.

"NOOOOOOOO!!" Ed screamed; it was the only thing he could possibly do at the moment, just scream and watch another person die... Just like before. He didn't want this!! How could such horrible things keep happening to him? How did everyone that was close to him just disappear like that? Ed covered his eyes with his hands, expecting to hear the sickening squelch as the knife hit Roy's flesh, but instead he heard a piercing loud 'BANG'!

Edward's hands fell from his face as he looked toward the source of the noise. It was Hawkeye. From the looks of it, she'd been sprinting as fast as she could and had burst into the room, gun at hand. Envy was sprawled on the floor with a bullet in his head, and Roy was sitting in his bed with a shocked look on his face like he'd just had a heart attack.

"Colonel, sir! I was just about to leave the hospital when I heard what sounded like a battle coming from your room, so I ran here immediately. Good thing I did..." Hawkeye sighed, as she slumped against the wall, panting. She'd run so fast, and she had been extremely worried. She looked up at Roy, then her eyes moved toward Edward standing silently in the corner of the room, and her breath stopped for a few seconds.

"... Oh my G-- Ed? Is that... really you?!... Wait a second. That tattoo obviously signifies that you're the new homunculus, am I correct?" Hawkeye's voice assumed it's steel-cold form as she glared at him cautiously. Ed winced under her glare, but shook his head.

"I'll explain all this later. Meanwhile, we should really be more concerned about _him._" Ed gestured to Envy, who was just beginning to stand up when Ed delivered a swift, powerful kick to his side that drove Envy all the way to the wall, leaving a homunculus-shaped dent in the plaster.

"Ugh... Fuck... Fucking chibi... Shit... SHIT!!" Envy groaned as he began to regenerate again, a bit slower than before, though. Things were not going the way he had planned; he was dying too many times. There was a limit as to how many times a homunculus could die before it would stop regenerating and finally perish. Envy was reaching that limit at an alarming pace; he could feel that the philosopher's stone in him was getting weaker as it lost power. He couldn't risk getting killed any more times, or he'd be dead before he could go back to Father's lab for a new Stone.

"Stupid... humans. You're not going to be the ones to kill me!!" Envy finally finished regenerating, and he quickly shape-shifted into a hawk, spreading out his wings and crashing through the window and into the sky.

"Shit!! Envy! That's cheating, damn it!!" Ed screeched out the window, attempting to grab onto his claws, but missing by an inch. "DAMN IT!! WHY'D MY LACK OF HEIGHT HAVE TO FAIL ME AT THIS TIME?! STUPID CROSSDRESSING PALM TREE! GET BACK HERE AND--" Ed's rant was interrupted as Hawkeye shoved him away from the window and aimed her gun at the Envy-hawk. With a loud crack of the trigger, the bullet hit him and he fell to the ground quite a few meters away. Ed stood, frozen with shock at Hawkeye's sudden move.

"Holy... crap. Good thinking, Hawkeye." Ed complimented her as he unfroze and stared out the window at the bleeding hawk on the ground. Hawkeye took aim and shot it again, ensuring that Envy was dead by now; as there were no alchemical sparks healing him this time.

"... Is he really dead? Just like that? It seemed a bit too simple..." Roy commented, twisting in his bed so he could see out the window. They stared in awe for a moment, amazed that they had finally defeated one of their most challenging enemies with just a few of Hawkeye's bullets.

"Now that that's over with, mind telling me what the hell happened to you, Edward? Are you really a homunculus now? Why do you have your memories?" Riza asked Ed, who snapped out of his slight daze while staring at Envy's corpse.

"I am a homunculus, but I somehow got my memories back after I was killed by Envy once. I don't really get it either... But I have a question for you guys too. Is Al... really... you know?" Ed's face darkened as he looked at Roy and Riza for an answer. They were both silent, unsure of how to tell him.

"I mean, I know that Envy said he killed him, but maybe he was just messing with me, right? I saw Al's body before I died, but there's always a chance that he's still alive! I mean, I thought Roy was dead, but he wasn't, so what happened to Al?" Ed stared into Roy's eyes, begging for the answer he wanted to hear. Roy looked away, and Riza looked down at the floor, both were avoiding eye contact with Ed.

"... Oh. Okay. That's... what I thought..." Ed bent his head down so that his bangs hid his eyes. Roy looked back up at him and knew that behind the curtain of hair, Ed was crying, for a single tear had fallen onto the cold hospital floor.

"Ed..." Roy whispered, unsure of what to say to make him feel better. Ed rubbed his eyes and glimpsed outside at the fallen hawk that used to be Envy.

"Well, I got my revenge at the very least." Ed said, a blank expression on his face, seemingly emotionless, but the tear rolling down his cheek told otherwise. He remained silent as he felt Riza's arms wrap around him in a warm embrace and led him to a chair so he could sit down.

* * *

_Pride wandered inside the empty room, desperately searching for a door or window that he could escape out of. Where was he? He had been with Envy, about to stab that dark-haired man... _

_Suddenly, a huge hourglass, at least 5 times bigger than Pride was, appeared before him. No, around him. He was IN the hourglass. How this was possible was beyond Pride; the only thing he knew was that he wanted to get out. He looked around, and noticed that black sand was starting to pour down from the top half of the hourglass. Staring worriedly at it, he noticed a gigantic purple eye staring at him from the hole, where he noticed that the black sand was actually made up of millions of tiny black hands that started to grab at him._

"_You... have no place in this world. You are no longer necessary. Return to the flow of life and enter the cycle, where you will be reborn once again." a voice boomed from above. Pride looked around frantically, trying to find the source of the voice, and noticed a being made of a shining yellow light that was sitting right next to him._

"_Who... are you?"_

"_I am the Truth. I'm going to take you away, back to your brothers and sisters inside the Gate."_

"_But... I don't want to! I want to stay in my world! You can't make me go!" Pride cried, furiously swatting away the tiny black hands that were beginning to lift him up to the center of the hourglass, which now looked like a gate with large doors and the purple eye still glaring at him from within._

"_But you'll have to. It's the way it works; Equivalent Exchange for that boy; Edward Elric. He gets his memory back, and I... the Truth, get you in return."_

"_No... No! I don't want to disappear! You can't make me! NO!" Pride screamed, and he kicked at the hourglass with so much strength that the glass actually shattered and he was free for the time being..._

* * *

Ed snapped his eyes open, breathing heavily for a moment before he realized he was still sitting in the chair in Roy's hospital room. He'd fallen asleep after sobbing for a few hours because of Al's... death. He stood and saw Riza in the chair next to him, and she'd also fallen asleep and was breathing peacefully. He smiled, then was hit by a sudden wave of nausea, that made him sit down again.

"What the hell? Ow... my head..." Ed murmured, rubbing his temples. He felt a searing pain all over his body, and his arms fell from his head because he could no longer keep them up. Suddenly, he heard a voice in his head.

"_I'm not going to be gotten rid of that easily..."_ the voice breathed...

**Dun dun dun!! Okay, I know I told all of you that a new chapter was going to come very soon. And I know that was a lie. I have a good excuse, though! I was at disneyland with my school's chorus, so I haven't been able to add a new chapter in ages, even though I'd written it already. I'm so sorry it's this late; I hope you'll forgive me! I have a new idea for this story; so it will be getting better! And I'll try to update within a week!!**


	6. Chapter 6

"_I'm not going to be gotten rid of that easily..." the voice breathed..._

Ed jolted up from his seat, looking around to see who had spoken. He saw nobody except for Riza, who was asleep, and Roy, who was just beginning to wake up.

"... Did you say something, Colonel?" Ed asked, his eyes circling the entire room, looking for someone else who could've spoken. Roy rubbed his eyes and turned to look at him with a confused look on his face.

"What are you talking about? I didn't say anything..." Roy yawned, slumping back into his bed.

"But I could've sworn I just heard someone..." Ed muttered.

"Are you hearing things? The last thing we want is for you to start hallucinating and losing your mind, Ed."

"I'm serious, though; I'm not hallucinating; I'm sure I just heard--"

"_Oh, don't worry, he can't hear me. I'm inside you. Hello, Edward Elric, I'm Pride."_ the voice interrupted Ed, and he felt his heart freeze for a moment as he realized whose voice it was.

* * *

"Father, it appears that Pride regained his memories. Or rather, Edward did. And I believe this fool, Envy has died." Lust reported to Father, presenting a dead hawk that looked like roadkill. She dropped it on the floor, where it suddenly shape-shifted back into Envy's 'normal' form.

"Ugh... shut up, you hag... I'm not going down that easy... Shit, it hurts... Give me a Stone... Give me another Philosopher's Stone!!" Envy moaned, writhing on the floor. Father looked down at him with cold eyes.

"My foolish son... How did you allow this to happen to you? You didn't complete your mission, you let Pride regain his memories, and here you come, begging at my feet, for another Philosopher's Stone? Those things don't just appear out of thin air." Father lectured, actually standing up from his chair and grabbing a fistful of Envy's hair and shaking him violently.

"...Bastard... It wasn't my fault... Pride--"

"I forgive you, for the time being. You may have another Stone. But remember that I shall not be as merciful the next time you make a mistake, Envy."

"Y-yes, Father..." Envy muttered reluctantly. Oh, how he despised having to be so obedient to this old geezer he called 'Father'. It annoyed the hell out of him, but if he wanted to stay alive, it was best if he did what Father told him to.

* * *

"Pride...?" Ed whispered, wide-eyed. He was sure that he was gone; his soul had taken over it; it must have disappeared!!

"_Just because your soul has dominated mine doesn't mean I'm gone."_

"Wh-what the hell?!" Ed shouted. Roy stared at him strangely.

"What on earth is wrong, Ed? You're talking to yourself. Ed? Oi. Ed! Fullmetal!" Roy yelled. Ed didn't respond, and his eyes went strangely blank, then they closed as he crumpled to the floor.

"Ed! Dammit, I can't get up... Hawkeye!! Hawkeye, wake up!" Roy called at Riza who was dozing in a chair near his bed. Immediately, her eyes snapped open and she looked up at Roy quizzically.

"What is it?" she asked. Roy gestured frantically at Ed on the floor, and Riza responded automatically, rushing to Ed's side.

"Edward! What happened to him, Colonel?"

"I don't know; he just suddenly fainted! Help him!"

"How? What do I do?"

"... I have no idea... uh... check his pulse!!"

"Colonel, he fainted, he didn't die. Besides, he's a homunculus now; dying once wouldn't kill him." Riza pointed out, but checked Ed's pulse anyway, if at least to be sure. Did homunculi even have pulses? A slight throb felt from Ed's wrist answered her question. Then what happened to Ed?

* * *

It was dark. Yet at the same time, the light was blindingly bright. Where was this? Ed looked around. It was an odd place. He could see everything, but at the same time, he saw absolutely nothing. It was like the feeling you get when you close your eyes. It's dark, but you know that outside, there is something there, that the world can never be as empty or dark as it seems. Suddenly, the place brightened up, as though he'd just opened his eyes. A giant eye hovered above Ed.

"Where... am I?"

"The gate. You've been here before."

"What? Who said that?! Show yourself!"

From the eye, minuscule black hands erupted from its edges, forming into an orb, then dissipating as Pride appeared, looking down at Ed from the top of an hourglass that had suddenly appeared as well. The bottom half of the hourglass was shattered, and the shards were scattered all over. The tiny black hands were pouring out of it like sand and were slowly piling on the ground, writhing.

"... Pride? I thought... I thought you were gone!!"

"Just because your soul dominated mine does not mean that I completely disappeared." Pride hissed slowly. He seemed weak; pale from his time in the gate. The minutes there seemed like hours, no, years even. Just being there for a few days was just pure torture.

"But... then why am I here now?"

"Because only one of us can survive in this body. Two souls cannot live together. One of us has to die. And that someone will be you." Pride remarked, leaping down from the hourglass and landing in front of Ed. A large scythe appeared in his hands, the word 'PRIDE' scratched on the blade and dried blood coating the letters. Pride swung the scythe toward Ed, who dodged just in time, ducking as he felt the blade narrowly miss his head.

"Why are you doing this?!" Ed shouted, blocking another attack.

"Didn't I just explain? I don't intend to be the one trapped in the gate for an eternity." Pride kicked Ed in the chest, forcing him down on the ground. Kneeling down next to Ed, Pride smirked. "And now, Edward Elric, it's goodbye. Forever." Pride raised his scythe above his head, and was about to swing it down upon Edward's head, when Ed kicked his legs up, hitting Pride square in the jaw.

"Are you an idiot?" Ed asked, crossing his arms as he glared down at Pride, who was clutching his head in pain from Ed's attack.

"... What? Who's the idiot here? I'm pretty sure it's you." Pride snarled, slowly rising from the floor.

"Nope. You're the idiot. Does your mind only work in zeros and ones? So there's two souls and one body. Why don't you just get another body? Problem solved." Ed concluded, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, and just where am I going to 'get another body'? You should know better than anyone that 'getting a body' is harder than that, you fool. You can't just go around creating bodies for souls; you know that! Take your brother for example; if you could create bodies that easily, none of you would be the way you are right now."

"You really are an idiot. Guess whose body I'm in right now?" Ed asked.

"Yours of course. What's your point?"

"First, you're wrong. I'm in the body of a homunculus; your body, to be specific."

"Which is why this body is rightfully mine."

"Whatever. But my point is, that my body is here, in the gate." Ed spread his arms out, gesturing at the white space that was the gate. "And you have a philosopher's stone in your body. Get it?"

Pride's eyes widened in realization. Of course! His philosopher's stone could easily pay the cost of getting back Edward's body, while he still got to keep his own body. It was even. But...

"What makes you think I'll let you use my Stone?" Pride sneered at Ed. Ed only smirked, shaking his head in amusement.

"I'm in this body too right now. I can do what I want." Ed said.

* * *

**That's all for now, sorry! I finally have the entire plot for this story; I even know how it's going to end!! Yeah, I know, I wait until NOW to think up a plot... XD I'll try to update more often now!**


	7. Chapter 7

"_What makes you think I'll let you use my Stone?" Pride sneered at Ed. Ed only smirked, shaking his head in amusement._

"_I'm in this body too right now. I can do what I want." Ed said._

And with that, Ed clapped his hands, then slapped them onto Pride's chest. His entire body began to glow, and Pride felt some of his energy being poured into Ed, and suddenly a huge crash and a flash of light emerged from the gate and knocked both Ed and Pride unconscious.

The shards of glass around the broken hourglass floated up, fitting back into the hourglass like a jigsaw puzzle. The hourglass shrank to about the size of a small key, then it turned, allowing the black hands to pour into the other side. It turned again, and Ed and Pride disappeared.

* * *

"Colonel, perhaps he just fell asleep from all the stress?" Hawkeye suggested, cradling Ed's head in her lap.

"... Maybe..." Roy mumbled, but he was still worried. He stared at Ed for a while, then noticed something strange.

"Lieutenant... Do you see that light on Ed's chest?"

Riza looked down, seeing a bright little light that had appeared under Ed's breastbone, and she gasped as it began to grow bigger. There was a sudden humming noise in the air, then a blinding flash of light followed by steam or smoke filled the room.

Coughing, Riza squinted to see through the smoke. She expected to see Ed still lying there, unconscious, but instead she saw _two_ people.

"Ed...ward..? Are you there?" Riza whispered as the smoke began to clear. Once she could see clearly, both she and Roy gasped.

There, sitting next to each other side by side, were _two_ Eds. Rubbing her eyes to check if her vision was correct, she confirmed that they were undeniably real.

And somewhere near the window, a dark figure frowned then disappeared without a sound.

* * *

"Father, somehow the Fullmetal kid got his body back. But Pride's still there." Greed said as he slunk back into the laboratory. The Xing emperor's body was quite nimble; Greed could get used to it.

"What?! How did this happen?! First he got his memories back, then he got his body back too?! This has never happened before." Father sighed, a grave look wrinkling his face.

"Well, Pride's still there. Should I go retrieve him?" Greed asked.

"No, no. If he couldn't even defeat the Fullmetal Alchemist, he's of no use to me. I imagine they'll probably destroy him anyway as their enemy, so we'll just leave him."

"But... What if Pride reveals any of our secrets?"

"He was still new; he doesn't know enough to supply them with a significant amount of information." Father said.

"Well. Okay, then..." Greed shrugged, then leaned against a wall.

"_So Edward's got a clone, huh?"_ Ling said inside Greed.

"_Shut up. Just stay nice and quiet. When the time comes, I'll destroy you, and trust me, I'm not nice enough to give you a chance to get your body back." _Greed retorted.

"_We'll see about that..." _Ling smirked.

* * *

"So, there are two of you now. Which one's Edward?" Riza asked.

"Are you Edward? No, you're Pride. Wait, no... Dammit, which one is which?!" Roy groaned.

"I'M Edward. THAT one's Pride!" Ed said.

"I _would_ attempt to confuse you and say that I'm not Pride and am actually Ed and he's lying, but I don't see the point anymore. I am indeed, Pride." Pride sighed. He didn't even care about fighting anymore. Sure, this body was now rightfully his, but with Ed still around, the victory wasn't very great. Pride was just a copy; just a tool that was being used by 'Father' to win his battles. Pride had no desire to work for him any longer.

Ed looked at him in surprise. He had been expecting Pride to put up some kind of fight or wreak some sort of havoc, but instead he was just sitting there staring sadly at his hands.

"Hey, you don't have to look so down in the dumps. You got your body back, right? Shouldn't you be happy? Aren't you even going to, you know, try to escape back to your 'Father' or something?" Ed asked.

"I don't see the point in going back to him if he's just going to kill me anyways for failing to defeat you. I haven't proved my worth to him whatsoever; I'm just an obstacle to him now... I have nowhere to go..." Pride explained, resting his chin on his hands.

"What do you mean you have nowhere to go? You're somewhere now, aren't you?" Ed smiled, standing and extending a hand to help Pride up. Pride gaped at him, wide-eyed.

"Are you implying that you want me to join your side? I'm a homunculus, you know, I should be your enemy!"

"Hey, as long as your not on that bastard's side, I can consider you an ally." Ed shrugged.

"Now wait a minute, Edward!" Roy cut in. "Are you sure about this? I don't think he's entirely trustworthy."

"Well, take a good look at him. He may be a homunculus, but he doesn't seem like the kind that would be untrustworthy."

"That's because he has YOUR body, smart one. You look like the kind of person who wouldn't sell out secrets to a blade of grass!! How do we know he's the same?!" Roy pointed out.

"HEY! Was that an insult toward my height?! Are you saying I'm so small that even a blade of grass couldn't hear me if I yelled at the top of my lungs?!" Ed accused Roy, glaring at him.

"I never said that! But do you see my point? He's supposed to be our enemy!"

"Well now he isn't 'cause he's not going to return to that 'Father' guy that's our ACTUAL enemy! Why can't you get that through your thick skull?! Or have you done so much flame alchemy that you've roasted your brain?!"

"What?! Well, you're a stubborn shorty!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' A SHORT SPROUT THAT'S SMALLER THAN THE SINGLE BRAIN CELL OPERATING YOUR THICK SKULL?!"

"Pipsqueak!!"

"Bastard!"

"Shrimp!"

"Assh--" Ed's insult was interrupted by the sound of laughter. Turning, Ed looked at Pride incredulously. Pride was laughing. And it sounded so... pleasant.

"Ha... ha-ha.. hee... Sorry, that was just... The funniest fight I've ever seen two people have..." Pride snorted, eyes actually watering from laughter. His laughter was infectious and soon Riza started laughing, then Ed, and finally Roy.

"See, you bastard? Someone evil wouldn't be able to laugh like that!" Ed stated triumphantly. He'd won this fight hands down.

"Ugh... I hate to admit it, but you're right... Even though technically he has _your_ laugh, so that might be why it sounds like that--"

"Shut it, bastard. I won; Pride's staying with us now."

"Hey, do I get a say in this?" Pride asked, his laughter stopping.

"You don't really have much of a choice, do you? I mean, it's either us or 'Father'. Which as you said before, is not an option for you." Riza pointed out to him. Pride smiled genuinely. He now had a place to belong...

* * *

**How'd you like this chapter? I felt I needed a break from the angst and fighting so I made this chapter have a lighter mood. Oh, and Greed/Lin appeared! He'll be appearing more often later. Also, if the plot's starting to confuse you, just tell me so I can make changes or help you understand what's happening. Sometimes even **_**I**_ **don't get what I'm writing... XD Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	8. Chapter 8

"_Hey, do I get a say in this?" Pride asked, his laughter stopping._

"_You don't really have much of a choice, do you? I mean, it's either us or 'Father'. Which as you said before, is not an option for you." Riza pointed out to him. Pride smiled genuinely. He now had a place to belong..._

* * *

"Alright, it's time I went back to my office." Roy announced, standing and cringing slightly from his wound. It had only been one week since the incident with Pride and Ed, and his wounds were far from being completely healed, but Roy was itching to get to work on stopping the homunculi.

"Sir, with all due respect, I am completely against your decision to leave the hospital. You need more rest--" Riza began, but Roy cut her off with a determined shake of his head.

"No, Riza. I know I'm not completely healed yet, but as long as I can walk, I'll work."

"Sounds good to me." Ed interjected, "We haven't even told everyone else that I'm alive, right? And besides, we should probably inform some people about my... twin." Ed gestured to Pride, who blinked, then smiled in response.

"Exactly. So I'm hauling myself out of this hospital; I can rest more at my house."

"But sir, if the homunculi come attack you again--"

"That's why you're here, Riza. Besides, chances are I'm safer in my office surrounded by my subordinates than in a hospital with nobody there besides the nurses." Roy pointed out.

"Oh, fine. But I'll be expecting you to get more paperwork done."

"..."

"Ha, you'll have to face your paperwork now, lazy bastard."

"Watch who you're calling a bastard, shrimp."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SHRIMP?! And hey! If you insult MY looks you're indirectly insulting Pride!" Ed pointed an accusing finger at Roy.

"Um, it's ok. I'm not offended at all--" Pride received a glare from Ed.

"Don't accept insults like they mean nothing!! Especially since it's insulting me AND you at the same time!!"

"Calm down, Edward. Now, I think I'll check out of the hospital now..." Roy said.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight. This er, homunculus, Pride, is our ally. And he looks exactly like Ed. And he has homunculi powers and knows secrets about their plots." Havoc reviewed everything Roy had just told his subordinates. Everyone was now in Roy's office to hear his explanation of the situation.

"That's about right, yes." Roy nodded.

"Hey, which one's Ed again? I can't tell..." Fuery asked, staring back and forth between Pride and Ed.

"Since Pride was basically created from Ed, there are virtually no differences between them except that Pride has the markings on his body and the ouroboros tattoo. He's covering up his skin though so other people can't see them though." Roy explained.

Pride was dressed in a black turtleneck long sleeved shirt and black pants as well, so it was impossible to see the markings. They didn't want people staring at Pride too much; he'd attract too much attention.

"It's so weird looking at you, Pride. It's like looking into a mirror..." Ed stated, looking at Pride.

"Hey guys, don't you think it would be funny if they dressed the same? They'd be like identical twins!" Breda suggested.

"Hm, you're right, let's get an identical set of clothing for them and see what it looks like." Falman said.

"How about the military uniform? Ed had been wearing it recently and I'm sure we can find another one for Pride." Havoc considered.

"Do you guys mind not talking about us like we're not standing right here?!" Ed shouted. He was ignored however, and everyone went off to get two sets of military uniforms for Ed and Pride, leaving Ed, Pride, Roy and Riza alone in the room again.

"... do they always act like this?" Pride asked.

"Yeah. They're always fooling around like a bunch of idiots; Roy has no control over them; they only listen when Riza threatens them by gunpoint." Ed remarked. At this, Riza turned and glared at Ed, who cringed and looked away nervously.

"I'm pretty sure you're included in the 'bunch of idiots', Edward." Roy taunted, resting his elbow on Ed's head like it was an armrest.

"Hey! Get your arm off my head, bastard!"

"But it's the perfect height for an armrest."

"I don't care, get off! AND WHO ARE YOU CALLIN' SHORT ENOUGH TO BE MISTAKEN AS AN ARMREST, BASTARD?!"

"That's enough, you two. I think we still need to sort a few things out while everyone else is gone. Like, for example, we need a cover-up story for why Ed has a clone of himself." Riza interrupted there fight.

"That's a good point... Why don't we just say that he's like, a long lost twin from Xing or something? Hm... Yeah!! We could say that our mother gave birth to us in Xing and was for some reason forced to abandon one of us to a Xingese clan and she regretted it so much she never told me!" Ed said, getting really into telling the story. "And now, after all these years I've finally been reunited with my long lost twin brother! And we can just say that the Xingese clan name him something that meant 'Pride', so we just call him that... Yeah.. Oh, and I'm the older twin!! Heh-heh... I always wondered what it was like to have a twin..."

Roy, Riza and Pride stared at him, somewhat confused.

"Okay, then. I guess that works... How do you think of these stories so quickly?" Roy asked.

"How do you think I wrote all those last minute reports? Besides, I know a Xingese prince... Oh, but now he's a homunculus... Damn. Well, I know his servants so I could always get them to somehow support our story... Hey, that works! Pride was adopted into the Yao clan in Xing and I was reunited with him because I know the prince!! Ha! It's brilliant. And the markings on Pride's body... We can just say it's like a Yao clan family crest or something... heh, this is kind of fun to think of."

"Well, that's not exactly the kind of history I'd like to have, but okay..." Pride said.

"Edward, how many of those reports were actually true...?" Roy asked, clearly annoyed.

"Oh, there's probably one or two of them that I didn't lie about, maybe..." Ed smirked.

"Alright, we might change that later, but that matter is settled. Now, where's Pride going to stay for the time being?" Riza asked.

"Uh... I don't know, I guess he could stay at my house. We don't have a guest room but-- oh wait. Well, there's Al's room... I can... I guess I can clear it out so Pride can have it..." Ed's voice became considerably quieter and he looked down, looking a bit depressed.

"..There's no need for that. If you have a living room I can simply sleep on a couch; besides, homunculi don't need much sleep." Pride changed the subject quickly.

"Yeah... but you know, now that Al's... gone... W-what am I supposed to do with his stuff?"

" We can decide that later, Edward. You can leave it there if you want to for now, okay?" Roy said softly, placing a hand on Ed's shoulder.

"I guess... But--" Ed was interrupted when the door to Roy's office opened, revealing Havoc, Fuery, Breda and Falman. There arms were loaded with bags and boxes.

"What is the meaning of this?" Roy asked incredulously.

"Uh, well, you see general, we were just looking for military uniforms, but then Havoc suggested that we look for other clothes as well so we ended going into the Central shopping center and found a bunch of stuff and we got kind of carried away and bought a lot of stuff since we thought that Pride probably didn't have a lot of clothes anyway, even though he could always just share with Ed, but we didn't think of that at the time so we picked out a lot of clothes and now I'm broke and I don't have any money for dinner tonight!!" Fuery explained, talking extremely fast, and gulping a huge breath of air once he was finished.

"... wow. That's what I call a run-on sentence." Roy said, sweat-dropping slightly at how ridiculous his men looked carrying all those shopping bags. They'd only been gone for half an hour and they had bought this much junk...

"So, since we bought all of this, let's see them try it on! It'll be cool to see two identical Edwards!"

* * *

"Oh wow... that looks so cool!!"

"It does! Wow, did you buy that one, Fuery?"

"Yeah, I thought it would look good on them."

"... WHAT KIND OF FREAKS ARE YOU?!" Ed screamed, feeling an urge to strangle something.

Pride and Ed stood side by side in the middle of the office, wearing identical outfits. They had made them try on so many different outfits it was starting to piss off Ed. They were treating him like a freaking doll!!

Right now they were wearing vertically striped button up shirts and black slacks, and Fuery had asked Riza to do their hair so that both of them had two golden ponytails, and it looked quite stunning. Ed was already pretty good looking to begin with, but with _two_ Eds standing next to each other, the effect was quite breathtaking. Roy took note of this as he felt a nosebleed come up and he turned away.

"I-it really does look good, Ed." Roy said, averting his gaze immediately when Ed turned his fierce gaze toward him.

"Not you too, bastard..." Ed growled, though inwardly he was somewhat surprised. The Colonel had given him a compliment. How unexpected...

"... Hey, who bought _this_ one?" Breda asked, holding up a pink bunny costume.

Ed stared at it in disbelief, and his face turned red with anger. It was a bright neon pink with giant bunny ears and a fluffy pink tail. It looked like a demented pink Easter bunny costume meant for some innocent child to be forced to wear by their parents, claiming that 'it looked cute'. Whoever bought that was going to _pay._

"_Which one of you bastards dared to buy that idiotic piece of crap?"_ Ed hissed, glaring at everyone in the room. Except for Riza of course, for obvious reasons.

Nobody answered.

"While I can control my anger much better than Ed can, this is going to far." Pride groaned as he stared at the pink costume.

"One of you had better 'fess up right now or _every single one of you bastards are never going to be able to walk ever again..."_ Ed threatened, a vein on his forehead popping. He was_ pissed._

"Edward. Calm down. _Now._" Hawkeye ordered, pointing her gun in Ed's direction.

"But they--"

"I don't care. Calm down or _you'll_ be the one that will never be able to walk again." Hawkeye said menacingly, "And you men. One of you dispose of that hideous costume right this instant or I'll shoot you."

"Y-yes, Ma'am!!"

"But before you do that, who was it that bought that?" Riza asked.

"Erm... it was me, Lieutenant..." Havoc raised his hand guiltily.

Ed's fist met with Havoc's jaw and he crashed to the floor in agony.

Havoc would be staying home from work in bed with his legs shaking for the next few days after Ed was done with him.

* * *

Ed sighed as he flopped onto his bed, tired from the long day. Stupid Colonel bastard and his subordinates... Ed glanced over into the living room, which was visible through his bedroom door and saw Pride sitting on the couch, sleeping. '_He looks just like me...'_ Ed thought, and continued to observe Pride for a moment before averting his gaze to the ceiling. Perhaps he should've cleared out Al's room for Pride... He'd gone into Al's room before he went to bed and just being there made his heart twist in pain. Al would never sleep in there again.

_Al..._ Ed sniffed at the thought of his younger brother. It wasn't fair. Ed was allowed to have a second chance at life, but Al wasn't. Al was... he was dead. Gone for good. After all those years they'd spent looking for the Philosopher's Stone, they finally got Al's body back, only to have him killed. It just wasn't fair.

Ed held up his right hand and examined it, turning it and flexing his fingers. Not only was he still alive, but he'd gotten his limbs back as well. And what had Al gotten back? Nothing. Al always got off worse than Ed did. When they attempted human transmutation, _Al_ was the one stuck in the suit of armor, _Al_ was the one that was deprived of the sensations of touch and taste, even though all of it was _Ed's_ fault. And it was_ Al_ that got killed by Envy, even though he'd finally gotten his body back, even though they had finally started to live a happy life.

If only Al could be with him.

_Human transmutation... alchemy's greatest taboo, huh?_ Ed thought as he drifted off to sleep.

Pride shifted on the couch and out of the corner of his eye he glanced at Edward, staring at the ceiling with a depressed look on his face. He jolted slightly when he saw Ed look in his direction and feigned sleep, closing his eyes and slowing his breathing. When he could no longer feel Ed's gaze, he opened his eyes and watched Ed. He was staring at his right arm... the one that used to be automail, if Pride remembered correctly. Pride looked at his own arms; exact copies of Edward's. In some way, looking exactly like Ed made Pride feel somewhat closer to him. After all, Ed was the first person he saw when he was born, and Ed was the first person to accept him as an ally not only to be used as a tool. A... friend, Pride supposed it was called. Yes, Edward was a friend. Pride took another peek at Ed and saw him clench his right fist as though he had just decided something, then he fell asleep. Pride wondered what he was thinking, as he, too, began to feel drowsy and finally fell asleep.

'_Human transmutation... alchemy's greatest taboo, huh?' a voice echoed in the white space._

'_Human transmutation? What?' Pride wondered._

'_Alphonse... We never should have done it... You were right...'_

'_Alphonse? Al... that is Edward's younger brother... the one that Envy killed?' Pride asked aloud subconsciously._

'_What?! Who's there!!' The voice boomed, and Pride fell backwards in surprise._

'_Uh, um, it's Pride.' Pride said, unsure of himself._

'_Pride?! How are YOU-- Wait, wait. You're in my mind?'_

'_Edward? Is that you? Huh? Oh, no, I get it. Listen, our spirits must have crossed in the gate or something, so we're sharing a dream.'_

'_We're sharing a dream? Is that even possible?'_

'_Apparently so. Our physical bodies are both asleep now so the only explanation is that we're dreaming.' Pride said, looking around. It was pure white around him, but a few feet away he could make out the shape of Ed's body standing in front of him._

'_Wow...That's weird--' Ed began, but he gasped as the scenery began to change. The white space was suddenly beginning to fill with color, and soon they were standing inside a dark room with odd antique objects and markings drawn in chalk all over the floor. Bookshelves took up every inch of the walls, and many books and sheets of paper were scattered on the floor._

'_Th-this is... this is where we...'_

'_That transmutation circle... That's human transmutation!' Pride gasped, kneeling down to examine it._

_Suddenly, light filled the room as two young boys burst in, carrying various materials in their arms._

"Al, ready to see mom again?" _the boy with golden blonde hair asked._

"Yeah! What will be the first thing you say when you see her?" _a boy with sandy hair smiled. The golden-haired boy laughed._

"Heh... Don't tell our teacher!!"

'_What the hell... This is when we did the transmutation... No... no, we were so stupid... No! I don't want to see it happen again! Make it stop!!' Ed cried, burying his face in his hands._

'_Edward. Edward!! Calm down! It's just a dream, calm down!' Pride shook Ed's shoulders. _

'_But... but I... We... no... just please make it go away..' Ed cried, and suddenly the whole world seemed to turn black._

Ed jolted awake, panting hard. He wiped his face with his hands, and felt water on his cheeks from tears. He'd been crying in his sleep.

"That was a screwed up dream..." Ed muttered.

"I'll say. So that's where it all started, huh?"

Ed glanced up in surprise at the voice. It was Pride, who had also woken up and was standing by his doorway.

"... Yeah. I was so stupid back then..."

"Tell me."

"Huh?"

"Tell me about what happened back then; I want to know." Pride insisted.

"What? Why?" Ed asked cynically.

"I'm your ally now, aren't I? I'll have to get to know you in order to trust you." Pride stated, sitting next to Ed in his bed.

"... I guess.. Hnn... Where should I begin?"

"From the beginning; tell me everything." Pride said, lying down next to Ed and getting himself comfortable.

* * *

**Alright, this chapter was a little weird, sorry. I just had a bunch of ideas and randomly jumbled them all together... But at least the chapter was a little longer, right? Also, I want to ask you people a question. Should I make this fic RoyxEd? I had been planning to in the beginning (since that's what I put in the summary... TAT), but now I don't know if I should... I've also been considering a weird pairing. What about PridexEd? Though that might sound kinda screwed up since they look exactly the same so it would be like Ed is loving himself... which would kind of make him a narcissist, huh? Tell me what you guys think and review please! XD**


	9. Chapter 9

"_I'm your ally now, aren't I? I'll have to get to know you in order to trust you." Pride stated, sitting next to Ed in his bed._

"_... I guess.. Hnn... Where should I begin?"_

"_From the beginning; tell me everything." Pride said, lying down next to Ed and getting himself comfortable._

* * *

And so, Ed told Pride everything about his past. How his father abandoned them, how his mother died, and how they committed the sin of human transmutation. As Ed talked, it occured to Pride that this might be the first time Ed ever revealed everything about his past to someone else all at once. Ed continued talking, and Pride continued to listen intently, until one or two hours later, both of them were curled up on the bed, fast asleep.

_It's bright... Is it morning already?_ Ed cracked open an eye, and found himself blinded by the sunlight as it poured in through the windows. Stretching, he sat up in his bed and yawned. What a long night it was yesterday... Ed swung his legs over the bed and was about to stand when his foot hit something soft. Surprised, Ed looked down and squeaked a little when he noticed what he'd just stepped on.

"P-pride?! What are you doing on the floor?!" Ed shouted, grabbing Pride's arm and shaking him awake.

"...Huh...?" Pride muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Oh... Right... I think you must have shoved me over or something in your sleep last night..."

"What?! Oh no!! Sorry!! You could've just moved to the couch!"

"I was too sleepy to move actually..." Pride said, yawning as he stood up. "So, what are we doing today?"

"Wasn't it cold, sleeping on the floor?!" Ed asked, ignoring Pride's question.

"It was okay, really."

"... you're a weird sleeper, Pride..."

"The same goes for you, Edward." Pride said, referring to the fact that Ed had shoved him off the bed in his sleep.

"Urk... heh... sorry..." Ed said sheepishly.

"It's alright. So what are our plans for today?" Pride asked.

"Well, I'm guessing that Roy probably wants to get to work on the homunculi business right away, so he'll want us at HQ today. But first, breakfast!" Ed exclaimed, and he marched into the kitchen to prepare some food.

* * *

"AAAAHH!! IT'S BURNING!! IT'S BURNING!! PRIDE, GET SOME WATER! HURRY, DAMMIT!! IT'S BURNING!!" Ed yelled, desperately using his washcloth to fan the flames coming from his frying pan. Pride dashed to the sink, filling a large bowl with water, then he ran back to the stove and proceeded to dump the water on the frying pan. There was a loud sizzling noise as the fire died out, and the two of them slumped on the counter, exhausted. Their feeble attempt at making omelets for breakfast had failed. Miserably.

"...I can't cook... " Ed said, burying his face in his hands.

"What went wrong? We followed the recipe perfectly..." Pride muttered as he poked at the burnt bits of egg on the pan with a spatula.

"Did I leave it on for too long? Or maybe we measured wrong somewhere." Ed said.

"Maybe. At any rate, there go our breakfast plans. What do we do now?" Pride asked.

"First, we'd better clean up. Next, the best thing to do when you need food is to mooch off Mustang." Ed smirked, grabbing his uniform which he'd carelessly left lying on a chair before going to bed last night. "Let's head to HQ."

* * *

"Colonel! Colonel!! Colonel!! Colonel! Colonel!! Hey, Colonel!! DAMMIT WAKE UP COLONEL BASTARD!!"

"WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" Roy jolted awake and lifted his head off his desk, then he glared aimlessly around the room, trying to see who was calling him.

"Took long enough!! Jeez, you sleep like a log!!" Ed glared back at Roy. Roy blinked. He'd fallen asleep again?! Crap, thank goodness Hawkeye hadn't arrived at HQ yet!!

"S-shut up! What is it that you came here so early for? You normally don't arrive until an hour later than this!" Roy said, checking his pocket watch for the time.

"We need your help, Mustang." Ed said, and Mustang noticed that Pride was in the room as well.

"My help? When did the great Fullmetal Alchemist ever request _my_ help?! The apocalypse must be upon us."

"Shut up, you dumbass. We need food. Now. Our breakfast plans... failed, to say the least, so I figured it'd be okay if we just forced you to get us something." Ed smirked.

"What? Are you planning on mooching off of me?! Not gonna happen. Get your own food." Roy said plainly.

"Aw, come on... You better do it, or else I'll show _this_ to Hawkeye." Ed took out a photograph and waved it in front of Roy's face. Roy snatched it out of his hands so he could see what it was. It was a picture of Roy, drooling on his desk as he slept, completely procrastinating on his paperwork. Not only that, but a note pad he'd been doodling on could be seen clearly in the photo, indicating that he had _definitely_ not been doing his paperwork.

"Dammit!! You took this while I was sleeping?! You sneaky little... Fine. I'll get you something. But this photo will remain in MY possession."

"Whatever, bastard. As long as we get some grub. Right, Pride?" Ed glanced over his shoulder at Pride, who had been silent for the entire time at the office. He seemed to be zoning out or something. "... Pride? Hello? Earth to Pride!!"

"H-huh? What? Oh, sorry!! Yeah!!" Pride snapped back to reality. He'd felt some kind of presence... Like someone was watching them...

Ed and Roy stared at Pride for a moment, but they seemed to shrug it off as they left the office to get the 'twins' some breakfast.

"_Crap! He almost saw me!!" _Greed muttered from his perch on a tree near the window of Roy's office. Although Father had told him there was no need for him to take any actions concerning Pride, he felt he should do _something._ What if Pride actually ended up being useful to them??

"_I see you're worried."_ Ling smirked inside Greed.

"How many times must I remind you to shut up?!" Greed hissed, "and I am not_ worried_; I'm merely being cautious. That little 'Fullmetal Alchemist' friend of yours and Pride could end up being troublesome for Father."

"_Whatever you say, homunculus."_ Ling shrugged. Greed ignored Ling and jumped down from the tree and landed as softly as possible on the ground when he saw Ed, Roy, and Pride walking out of HQ. He swiftly followed them, keeping a good distance away so that they wouldn't sense his presence.

"_Still following them?"_

"Once again, SHUT THE HELL UP." Greed growled.

* * *

"Aw, come on, I was expecting more out of you, Colonel." Ed sighed as they entered a small cafe that Roy had led them to.

"I'm treating you to food, Fullmetal. Don't complain about where it comes from."

"I bet you don't say that to the millions of girls you've taken out for meals." Ed glared at Roy, "Oh well, free food. Get me a croissant. And some coffee. Actually, make that two croissants, I'm hungry."

"You're only getting one." Roy glared back at Ed, then looked at Pride. "What about you?" he asked, smiling a bit.

"Uh... I'll just get the same as him. I'm not picky about my food." Pride said.

"Unlike a certain someone..." Roy glanced at Ed, "It's so weird hearing those words out of the lips of someone that looks exactly like Ed."

"Pfft, I'm not that picky."

"Fine, then how would you like it if I added milk to your coffee?"

"Bastard."

"Do you two always fight like this?" Pride asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. But he always starts it." Roy and Ed both said simultaneously, then turned to glare at each other.

"... Ok, then..."

After a while, they were all sitting around a table, with their food in front of them. Ed immediately dug in, and within minutes his croissant was gone, and his cup of coffee was completely empty.

"Hmm... I'm still hungry... It's too bad you're so stingy, Colonel." Ed said, staring at his empty cup woefully. This earned him another glare, which he returned right away. "Anyway, there's another reason I brought us all out here. Since we're no longer near military HQ, we can discuss the homunculi business in private."

"Ah, now you're saying something reasonable." Roy smirked.

"Shut up, bastard. Anyway, I have a few questions I feel like asking you, Pride. First, how do you destroy a homunculus? Since you are one, I figured you'd know."

"Well, there actually are limits to how often a homunculus can die. Since our hearts are the Philosopher's Stone, and it's made of human souls, every time we die, a bit of life energy from the Stone gets used up. Once the Stone is completely dried up, I guess we'd die." Pride said, "But for a newer homunculus, like me, my Stone is still fairly new, so if you wanted to kill me, it would take several lifetimes."

"Several lifetimes?! Is there an easier way to do it?" Roy asked.

"Father can destroy us. Since we are part of him." Pride answered, which earned him a few confused looks from Ed and Roy.

"Part of him? I don't get it... Actually, who exactly is 'Father' in the first place? Apparently, he's not my bastard of a father, but he looks just like him..."

"Father is a homunculus too. He makes the other homunculi by basing them off his seven sins. If you've noticed, that's what all the homunculi are named after." Pride said, taking a bite of his croissant. Unlike Ed, he was eating slowly.

"Okay... But why does he look like my d--" Ed stopped in the middle of his sentence and he looked up at the ceiling. A tiny crumb of plaster had just fallen on his head.

"What's wrong Edward?" Roy asked as he gazed at the ceiling, wondering what Ed was looking at.

"Do... Do you hear that? There's a rumbling noise or something... and a piece of plaster from the ceiling just fell on my head..." Ed looked around suspiciously, "And also... Why is there nobody else in here now? Even the cashiers are gone, and there aren't any costumers..."

Pride also glanced up at the ceiling, then his eyes widened.

"Shit!! Get out of here now, you two!!" Pride yelled, shoving Edward and Roy out of their seats and toward the exit to the cafe. He was about to follow them out the door when suddenly the ceiling caved in with a huge explosion.

"Holy crap!! Pride!!" Ed shouted, gazing in horror at the collapsed building they'd been in mere seconds ago. Pride was crushed under the weight of some of the ceiling beams, and he was bleeding from a wound in his stomach where a pipe had stabbed him.

"Ow... shit..." Pride groaned, as he dragged himself out from beneath the rubble and alchemic light surrounded his wounds and he regenerated within seconds.

"What the hell was that?!" Roy asked in shock.

"There's no way that was some kind of accident. It looks like someone set up a bomb or something... More people that are out for your ass, Roy?"

"I doubt they'd go as far as this..." Roy replied, gesturing at the pile of rubble that used to be a cafe.

* * *

"_So you tried to kill them with this? A bomb?" _Ling asked, _"Did you really think that would work?"_

"Not in particular. That was more of a warning to them that I won't let them defeat us." Greed said. He was standing behind the rubble of the cafe, well out of sight of the three who had just escaped from it. "Besides, I was getting bored. I think I'll make those cashiers and costumers my henchmen, they seem obedient." Greed looked over his shoulder at several people who were bound in ropes and had tape covering their mouths.

"Mmph!!" One of them was struggling, trying to get out of the ropes, but he was failing rather miserably.

"Ha! That one's trying to escape. How pathetic." Greed walked over to the man and ripped the tape off his mouth. "What's your name?"

"B-Bido!!" The man whimpered, shuddering in fear. He was rather short, and he was bald, with a sort of slimy look to his skin. He was dressed in rags; probably some homeless guy that wanted to steal food from the cafe.

"... Bido...?" Greed muttered. The name was familiar...

"I'm Greed. And even though you're pathetic, I'll need some henchmen, so you can be the first."

"Greed? Mister Greed?! You're not Mister Greed!! Are you some kind of impostor?!" Bido was hysterical; he tried to back away from Greed, and suddenly his ropes snapped in half, and Greed saw the the man had a lizard tail.

"A chimera? Wait... I know you..."

* * *

**DUN DUN DUN!! Does this scene seem familiar to any of you manga readers? Yeah, Greed is getting his memories back next chapter! Yay!! Things will sort of follow the manga from here, just to let you know. This chapter was a bit random though, since I just wrote down whatever came to mind...  
**

**Oh, by the way, right now, I've decided that there will be no pairings in this fic, though if you let your imagination do the work, you might be able to squint and see some romance between characters. But if it's a pairing you don't like, simply glaze over it. XD**


	10. Chapter 10

**I'm really sorry if you thought this was an update, but really, I have no motivation to continue this fic... I know a lot of people liked it, but I have no idea where I'm going with this, so I'm sorry, but I'll have to discontinue it.**

**For those that want to know what was going to happen, there was going to be an epic battle with the homunculi, and Ling/Greed ended up joining Pride and Ed after Bido made his memories come back... that's pretty much it. Once again, I'm really sorry if you liked this fic... Feel free to steal the idea from me though; just give me credit. X3**


End file.
